Big bounces, no water hazards for Sagamore winter golfers

NORTH HAMPTON -- With Old Man Winter lying in frosty wait, November is typically the month when a golfer’s wares get stashed away for hibernation in the closet or garage rafter.

But one local golf course is eager to remind links lovers the region over that it’s OK to keep the bag and spikes in the car trunk, just in case.

Located in North Hampton, Sagamore-Hampton Golf Course offers year-around golfing – from dawn to dusk and mother nature permitting, of course – along with all-weather driving range availability at the nearby Sagamore Golf Center.

When asked whether he looked forward to the occasional winter round – a nice 45-degree day with manageable winds, perhaps – Luff admits that that peace, quiet, and practice aren’t the only benefits.

“A lot of people don’t realize that when the ground’s rally frozen, you can get quite the roll on your shot,” Luff says with a laugh. “Between that, the tranquil setting, and the less fearsome frozen-water hazards, it makes the game really interesting.”

The Golf Center – recently voted one of the country’s Top-100 – offers 16 heated hitting bays with automated tee stations, the latter of which were installed just this past year and remain the only of their kind anywhere on the Seacoast.

Luff is quick to cite one of Sagamore’s winter clubhouse staples – an original woodstove – as a popular draw for winter course-goers. Of course, you can’t forget the hot chocolate.

“It’s a great way to unwind after a good round,” says Luff.

Newcomers might also happen to catch a glimpse of the course’s wind turbine, installed two years ago in an effort to reduce the clubhouse’s energy costs, while building upon the company’s long-standing commitment to green practices. Indeed, the company has maintained a relationships with local companies from whom Sagamore sources a majority of their all-organic fertilizers, mulches, and other products.

In 2009 Sagamore became the first and only golf course to join Green Alliance, a Portsmouth organization that seeks to connect green-minded businesses and sustainability-driven consumers.

Earlier this year, Sagamore partnered with the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, which conducts on-site evaluations, wildlife and habitat mapping, employee engagement, and regular progress tracking in an effort to help courses like Luff’s strike a balance between environmental stewardship on the one hand, and the often delicate issue of “playability” and competitiveness.

Judging by their growing green credentials and open door winter policy, Sagamore would seem to have struck precisely that symbiosis.

“The conditions might be somewhat different, but we think that makes for a unique challenge that a lot of golfers would embrace,” says Luff. “We take good care of the course, and because of that we like to think it takes care of us right back with all-year playability.”

Each Thanksgiving, Sagamore-Hampton hosts a casual nine-hole Turkey Shoot Scramble for golfers looking for a brief respite from holiday chores The course will be open to golfers until 12 noon.

For more information, please visit www.sagamoregolf.com.

Learn more about Green Alliance at www.greenalliance.biz.

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